question on cloning

William Tivol (tivol at news.wadsworth.org) wrote:
: Humphreys (tama727 at rmii.com) wrote:
: : If we do develop the technology to clone humans, could
: : diseases that are not hereditary be passed to the clone?
: Since the DNA has to be inserted into a recipient cell in vitro,
: it is conceivable [:-)] that an airborne organism could get into the dish
: and be transferred along with the egg to the surrogate uterus. It could
: propagate there and infect the developing embryo. IMHO, most such inci-
depends on the cell. not all viruses can infect all cells (i.e. most have
specific receptors surface proteins by which they gain entry)
: dents would kill the embryo, but perhaps not. Some viruses could do this.
: Additionally, any disease which a mother can pass along to the fetus could
: be passed on to a clone. AIDS is one which comes to mind, and there are
: many others.
depends on the origin of the donor nucleus. HIV does not infect all
cells.